What can images do?

Great morning!

Just stumbled upon JR's video, he is a social artist from France. Yes, a "social artist". His project 28mm is an astounding collection of human emotions, portraits that were printed and displayed in the museum of streets. These subjects and their theme were for a social cause and were apt to the area it was shot. Photography & print were used as medium. He was also a speaker in TED 2011. His themes and the way he handled his subjects were inspiring. The video below is about his 28mm project.

Bokeh Experiments - How To

Seasons greetings everyone.

After my earlier post of Instant miniature studio many had left comments saying it was useful. Thanks for your comments and feedback. With Christmas and the new year aproaching, here is an interesting walk through to make your photographs more interesting this season. This time we are going to play around with the bokeh.

Its fairly simple to get a bokeh like the below one. You need to keep the lens in a low aperture like f/1.8 and with some back ground light. 

But what do to when you want to make it more interesting like the one below? 

Here is how to do it. You can easily try it at home. You will need:

1. Camera and a low aperture lens (50 mm f/1.8)

2. Chart paper, preferably black.

3. Compass and Scale.

4. Paper cutting knife and scissors. 

Measure the diameter of your lens or simply go with the measurement of your filter that you got for the lens. Use that measurement to make circular rings in the chart paper using the compass and scissors. Make sure the ring exactly fits in the lens (one would need to remove any lens filters attached, for this experiment). Now draw shapes(hearts, square, clove, anything) in the center of the circular paper ring and make sure the shapes are exactly at the center. Use the paper cutting knife to cut out the shape that was drawn.

Now it's almost done, fit the circular rings in front of your lens and start clicking. Enjoy the custom bokeh shapes. 

Technical mumbo-jumbo or How It Actually works:
Technically the shape of the bokeh is controlled by the shape of the aperture. Ideally the aperture is made of multiple blades to form a near circular shape. As the number of blades differ from lens to lens, by keeping a high f-number like f/5.6 the bokeh produced might be polygon in shape. Here since the light entering the lens is controlled by a custom shape which overrides the default circular ring of the aperture, it gives the bokeh a custom shape. This said, it is left to each one's creativity to decide the shape and the kind of picture to use these techniques on. 

P.S. It was fun to use the compass after eight years, last I used it was in the Engineering drawing class in the first semester of college.

Framed

My photograph has been selected for display at Bangalore Photography Club's Fifth annual photography exhibition, Frames of Mind - 2010.

If you are in Bangalore on the Oct 22-24 weekend, do come and check out the photographs in the exhibition. There are interesting photography sessions as part of Fotocamp. Meet you there!

Here is the selected entry. This was shot from the 6th floor of Novell's office. If you look closely, you'd see the reflection.

Lalbagh Flower Show

Was visiting my friends place in Bangalore a week back, also knew there was a flower show happening at Lalbagh. Somehow managed to loop in Srihari and his Aunt for the photo shoot on Sunday morning. We reached there early and walked around the park. When the gates opened we had a good 45 mins shoot in the flower show in spite of the crowd and police whistling to move fast. It was a colorful shoot.

For convenience I have uploaded to

• Flickr set
• Facebook album

Let me know your comments.
Happy Clicking!

Photography Day

You know when you're ready

The Art & Science of Photography - Kalyan Varma

Last weekend I did a trip to Bengaluru to attend a workshop conducted by Kalyan Varma (Kalyan Varma is a well known wildlife photographer.) - The Art & Science of Photography. It was a two day workshop covering a wide spectrum of topics. Both the days were well structured that one could learn and also test the skills learnt. Course content was chosen such that it would neither intimidate someone who is very new to Photography nor bore anyone who was skilled relatively.

Day 1:
The first session was about the Science of Photography. Like the school days physics classes, it was on fundamentals, fundamentals and fundamentals. Kalyan gave a very good perspective and understanding on the topics. Even after all the reading I have done on these jargon, I can say, "I have never understood them better than now!". Immediate hands-on in the classroom for some of the concepts were the highlights.

Second session of day 1 was on Art of Photography. It was very crucial to understand the art side of photography. Kalyan handled it well with the approach of "learn by example". He talked about composition of pictures. In the later half of the first session, he spoke about camera gear including body, lens, tripods, flash and bags.

Day 2:
Ah! Saw 6 am in my clock after several months. :) Got up and headed to Lalbagh for a photoshoot with Kalyan and others. It was interesting to have a hands on at Lalbagh with the various subjects present there: people, rocks, dogs and flowers. After a portrait session, we headed back to the classroom where we had a session on post processing. We had an interesting session as to what should be done in the name of post-processing and what should not be, as learning post-processing will give you a total control of your photographs.

Post lunch, we had a critique session where various shots taken by us over the morning photo shoot was discussed and critiqued. Finally we had to call it a day with a conclusion speech by Kalyan, I have a lot to take from the workshop. 

Highlights:
- Kalyan's command on the subject and the ability to carry on for two full days without boring the trainees :-)
- Ganesh and Harsha, who were part of Kalyan's team in conducting the workshop. Along with Kalyan they helped out folks in the classroom as well as the photo shoot. Special thanks to Ganesh for the ride to lalbagh in the bullet.
- "Food" - serious kudos to Casa de Bengluru who fed us some yummy food :-)

More on the workshop here.

Photos from the workshop in Flickr

Instant miniature studio - How To

Two weeks down the Nikon D90, its so tempting to keep it down and she hates it. :-) Last weekend I got a Shrek toy as part of the Happy Meal. Soon after coming home, I wanted to take few snaps of it. So quickly thought of home studio lighting setup to take photos.

All you need is

- A note book, preferably plain white sheets in them.

- Alternate source of light, like table lamp.

- Tripod (preferred)

Nikon D90 on the tripod + table lamp + note book with 50mm lens as the subject

Place the note book like a slanting 'L', this gives white flooring and white background (laptop and few white sheets will also do). It would be nice to slide a paper over the edge, so that there are no sharp curves on the background. Make sure there is no folds in the paper that's used (since it will caste shadow). Set the tripod in front of the notebook with the camera mounted. Now place the table lamb between the tripod and notebook, such that it does come inside the frame of the camera. Also make sure the table lamp does not flare the lens. No place the subject in the tip of the paper that stands sliding and start shooting.

Keep the light at different angles to the subject to get various effect on the subject and control how the shadow is cast. Prefer using the timer shutter to avoid any chance of camera shake. 

Here are some samples and more photos at flickr

Go ahead and comment your feedback and questions.

Nikon D90

After pressing the shutter release button ~13,000 times, I was strongly convinced that it was time for an upgrade.

Why did I need to upgrade? - Simply the point & shoot was not fulfilling my need. The need of total control over the composition of the picture and the lens focal rings were not doing what I wanted them to do. A need for bigger and better sensor. Less grains on a low light photo even after cropping. Options for variety of shots from wide angle to telephoto.

Firstly I was aligned with Canon or Nikon, because they were the top two brands and nothing outside it pleased me. Second I needed to carefully list down my needs, so that I can pick the right camera. This was a long process. Finally shortlisted these camera bodies,

• Canon 50D
• Canon 7D 
• Nikon D90
• Nikon 300s

My wedding photographs were a deciding factor in selecting the brand, body and the series of lens that I would go for. The photographer we hired had a Nikon D300, Nikon D700, Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon 50D and a whole lot of lens. But after carefully studying the output, I totally fell in love with Nikon.

Finally I got a Nikon D90 body and 18-105 kit lens. This camera had all features that I was looking for including 12.4 megapixel, well built body, controls and video capabilities. Nikon 300s and 18-200 lens pair was over shooting the budget and the learning curve is pretty steep. So far I'm pretty happy with the output and the performance. 

Thanks to my wife for this.She has started to love the sound of the shutter. 
Image Source

Preview

Camera & lens - learning links

Off late, I had been researching a lot to upgrade my camera to DSLR. I came across many interesting links to help better understand the DSLR and Lenses. Since one needs to know what those numbers are on the lenses and what the DSLR is equipped with before investing on buying them.

Credits to Nikon to have such learning materials for people to know their lenses.

Lens Simulator - Best place to try out the lens before you buy.

Lens positioning map - Compare focal range & f-number of the lenses.

Terms - All the jargons explained.

Camera labs - Nice video reviews on body and lens. (When tired on reading, listen to the video and relax)

Lens review - user reviews

Photozone - Show me the numbers style.

P.S. Will soon publish my learnings. If you got more links, let me know will update it.

Niece

இனிய தீபாவளி

Lately Diwali means good food and photography for me. Once a year I gain lot of weight and workout the rest of the year to reduce it. A colleague of mine wishing everyone, comes to my cube and says, "This Diwali also photos and no crackers is it?". Thats true! More than burning those crackers I'm fond of taking pictures and calculating the amount of money totally spent in buying them. 

This Diwali was no different. After my mom repeatedly reminding me to get a dress, I decided to shop. Rule#1: No black dress, already I have enough that I'm banned for lifetime. Rule#2: Need to shop in 30mins. I will lose interest from 31st minute. Rule#3: No jean and t-shirts. Amen! Whats else is there in those to shop then? I romed around for 120 minutes and took a shirt. Trail piece fits well and finally ended up not having my size in the lot. End of Diwali shopping. But made my mom happy, by the patent shirt I got from office. :)

I spent the Diwali night at the rooftop with my camera. It was a spectacle to watch those fireworks reach skies. Had a chance to click some of them and miss many of them. Also its fun to anticipate from where the next big one will come in the sky. Also meet some friends and few more to go. Food food and lots of food.

I'm so patient with this 5 mins timeout internet at home. :) BSNL sucks at this part of the city.

Have fun. More photos in my flickr.

Wow, you must have a really good camera!

Anyone who has ever taken a sharp, properly exposed,
and well-composed photo has heard these words,
"Wow, you must have a really good camera!"

Then anyone who can code or write well, should
have a "really good keyboard and computer!" :-)

Took the excerpt from this article by Vic Berardi.

A walk with a mahout

Punnathur Kotta Elephant Sanctuary is 2kms ride from the Thrissur temple town. Around 66 elephants are care taken in this sanctuary. Starting from the security gate to the far corners inside the sanctuary there are elephants tied to tree trunks and big cement blocks. We decided to take a walk through the elephant sanctuary guided by a one of the mahout's there.

This is a typical sight one can find, elephants tied to the trunk of the tree. Some take the shade and some do the sun bath. They do "yo yo" moves for some jazz music to keep them warm as well away from the small bugs. Interesting to see innovative moves done by the elephants. Also some use a branch of a coconut tree to scratch their body, other throw sand on their body to keep the bugs away!

Its easy to differentiate a male tusker from a female. The male elephants have long tusks, Ah some tusks are really long as you see in the above pic (6 vidyasangal sollungal paarpom). Trust me its a really tough skin and rock solid tusk. I almost fled the spot when the elephant made a sudden movement. (@revs & @tom your requests fulfilled)

The female does have tusks, but they are very small. Like the one you see above. They are also slightly short in height than a well grown male. There are some male elephants that has a female face, ie with a shorter tusk these are the ones that will be used the circus, said the mahout.

Elephants will undergo a period (around 3 months) known as musth. During this period the testosterone levels increase in the elephants and they become very aggressive. Its identified by a thick oil like substance that's secreted on the temporal glands on the side of the elephants head. So even an experienced mahout dares to go near the elephant. Once elephant is identified for this, all four legs are tied in huge chains, food & water is supplied from distance using a hose pipe.
This is a sad part of the elephant care taking. A stick is kept behind its ear. The elephant has to stay (stand) without the stick falling down. This is said to teach discipline to them. If it fails to hold the stick, it is given some lashes with it, says one of the mahouts. Some times the elephant takes the stick thats dropped and pleads for guilty by holding it on the trunk.

Also this sanctuary has some of the elephants that were donated by film stars and politicians like J.Jayalalithaa.

Photography: Avoiding camera shakes

Did you goof up the last night's birthday celebration photos or messed up one of your favourite portraits due to camera shake? The image became blurred, never mind. I really cannot guarantee you for a sharp click next time, but it can be largely avoided. I will try in my own K.I.S.S way! Thanks to Dwarak to start a cubicle side conversation on this.

Why does camera shake occur?

• Primary reason is one shakes the camera when clicking the shutter button!
• Low light could be another reason for the shake to occur. (Though this does not come under camera shake, its a reason for blurred images)
• You should have kept the shutter speed less.

How to avoid camera shakes?

• Practice and get used to your camera shutter button. Try to hold the camera in various ways and try clicking the shutter button. Since there might be a need to lie on the floor, in this case how will you hold the camera and click. At first someone looking at you practice might think something is wrong. :)
• If you are clicking with your right hand, you can use the left hand as a base to place the camera. This will avoid camera shake in lot of way. Samples here.
• Shakes can be very much reduced when you can keep the elbow in a stationary object. A table or a small projection should be good enough to keep your elbow.
• Try to stick the view finder to the bone near your eyebrow. Keep it gentle, else it my hurt a bit.
  
• If you have got a tummy, use it to your advantage by tucking in your elbow in it.
• I practice holding my breathe for a few seconds when I click the shutter, It works for me for concentration as well avoid shakes.
• Nothing work, invest on a tripod. :-)
  

And

This was the photo I submitted and this was the hand made photo frame goodie I won @ office as a part of Green Week celebration.

Distractions

Thank God! I have them. After an incrediable day, here are some experiements from my studio! Let me not forget, the first two is a crop from Arun's pics and model is Kishore! Good night.

UC Berkeley E128 Final Project

P.S. I really want to add subtitles to this video!

Long Exposure Photography

[Note: This post is on Photography, So it has few images and it might take some time to load in a slow Internet connection. Amen!]

Earlier this month I had mentioned something interesting in a post we tried out in the vacation and posted a random curved lines picture. Inspired by the latest Eveready battery ad, I decided to try something new with my photographer friend(Arun).

Have you heard of Long Exposure photography. To kiss, every camera has shutter that opens and lets light in inside the sensor (old days film) this is what defines the photograph. Controlling the amount of time the shutter is open is called Exposure. Now Long exposure should have made sense! Ideally your camera will have a mode in the dial called "Tv" which will help you control these settings. What Could one achieve with long exposure.

Know the rules and break it!

Motion Blur, Its a technique where a light source moves and shutter is kept long enough to produce a motion blur of the light source. Like a long trial of light. This is the exact same technique used in the Eveready add where a cat chases a mouse! Arun was skill full enough to write his name mirrored so it appears straight in front of the camera. Here is the out come.

Another frantic effort by me to write my name in-spite of my dyslexia to write things mirrored. Tip: Try it in dark room, we used a 15 second exposure and a Sony Ericson mobile torch light as the light trail. Tripod (or a fixed base is must) I will say again, Tripod a must.

Next we tried long exposure were I posed at different angles. The more the time you expose at the object at a point, more its embosses on the area. In the below photo the object was well palaces, but it got over exposed to light. Esp at the left top corner.

So, next was an interesting idea where the photo was taken using camera A and the light source was from camera B flash. So the image was not over exposed. Below is the outcome, and Arun being the Model after six months in gym.

and another...

Then things started to get bit haunting, We started posing for horror movie posters. Its fun once you learn the basics right. You can keep being creative from that. 

and me...

So, go take you camera! Be it an SLR, Point & Shoot or any compact camera with shutter speed adjusting settings. Keep it on a tripod, if not a chair, table try them out. You got any questions, write to us @kvijesh or @arun_ragh. Also send your feedback in the comments.

TN 01

Few weeks back I tried the facebook app quiz "Are you fit to live in Chennai?" I fared moderately in it (Result: You will do better in coming days!). But only now I realise that reality is more traumatic.

We boarded the train to Chennai on a cool Tuesday evening. The train reached our destination at the unearthly hours of 4:10 AM. A sudden warmth in the air when it's supposed to be the coldest time of the day. Still keeping that aside we had a small nap after reaching home. A friend of mine texted me, "Welcome to singaara chennai" I didn't know it had to be read as "Welcome to sudaana chennai"

Couple during the wedding reception

After breakfast, I started alone to T-Nagar to meet a friend for a quick lunch. Boarded the local bus and I was warned it was going to be a one hour ride into the city. I got the window seat happily and started reading name boards to know which area I'm currently in. It was 12 noon and the heat wave started blowing .Sigh! After getting down in a wrong stop, I ran to a near by shop to get a cold water bottle and quench the thirst. (tip: Never travel across Chennai without a water bottle)


The Wedding. It was a beautiful wedding I should say! They took good care of the guests. A perfect setting for a wedding in Chennai summer. The food was excellent -a full 5/5 for the food. They were co-operative enough to pack the food for some of them who wanted to start early. Full recommendation for this caterer. Then later that night we decided to take a walk to Residency towers for podi dosa and coffee at 2 AM. As usual I understood less on the complex ceremonies in the wedding podium. I was along with Arun for the photo shoot and got some nice clicks. Then had to skip lunch for unforeseen reasons ;) to land at the movie "Pasanga".

Couple during the wedding (Photo credit: Arun)

A visit to Chennai is not fulfilled without a trip to its beaches and tasting the junk food there. So yeah next stop was Marina beach (Still they have not decided to sell it, Madhu). Nice breeze and few clicks here and there! Back to 21 degree Celsius at my friend's home.

It started getting hotter and hotter. We entered the third day of our vacation. The heat had not even reduced a bit. Next destination was Poonamallee for my senior's wedding. Christ it was so hot that I could not find a time when I stopped sweating. A friend of mine who was a resident from Ooty (Thuud!) woke up at 3 AM and decided to take a walk, unable to sleep. I got up at 5 AM and joined him. :)


Interestingly I took the last photo in the wedding hall. It was a idol placed in flowing water. A fat, dark gentleman came to me and started speaking in fast Tamil. I did not follow for few minutes until he asked if I have permission to take photos here. He introduced himself as special police security officer in charge for the wedding. He asked, "What if you keep a bomb and go?Show me your ID card, I'm showing mine right". So I did. I told him that I was a guest of the bridegroom, but he did not listen. Then he asked me to take some photos, telling that it should come in the press the next day. He posed with a Mickey Mouse mascot who was standing in the entrance. Only then I found he was under the influence of alcohol.

This was one interesting part of the trip. Two photographers left with nothing to do, can turn up such interesting stuff. Will write more about in the next post. Also below was an frantic effort to shoot a group of squirrel. Photographing squirrels was quite a challenge. I stripped them in a single collage.


After getting burnt, roasted for 4days and getting sun burns, I was very much unsure of how I'm carry myself again on the 5th day. Also I had plans to visit some of my friends, but then everyone are placed in corners of the city. So I had to skip them all and cut short my vacation by a day and boarded a volvo and reached Bangalore. (Reports said: It has rained heavily in Bangalore for the last 4 days :( ) Back in Bangalore a stranger asked us, "Are you guys back from chennai? Is it raining there, did you bring the umbrella back?". I looked at my friend and burst out laughing.

In simple I'm yet not ready for Chennai Summer!